


It takes two to tango

by ifzi0531



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-19
Updated: 2013-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-29 20:35:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/691176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifzi0531/pseuds/ifzi0531
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <img/></p>
</div><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know but I’m worried about him.” Harry says.</p>
<p>“We are all worried about him. But I think you’re more worried that the rest of us, right?” Louis teases.</p>
<p>“What?” Harry shrieks.</p>
<p>“We know you like him. You’re way too obvious.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	It takes two to tango

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All the characterization are purely fictional. (including Greg and Bobby Horan).

Harry smiles as he watches Niall laughs out loud at one of Louis’s dumb jokes. It’s not that funny but Harry knows Niall laughs at everything and Harry likes that. He likes hearing Niall laughs. He doesn’t realize that he is staring at Niall until someone nudges him on the ribs and he turns to face Zayn who has a stupid teasing grin on his face. “Like what you see?” Zayn teases and Harry swears that the warm rush on his cheek is only because of the heater in the house. Harry wants to reply to Zayn’s teasing when suddenly someone greets them loudly. 

 

“Hello!!” Harry turns his head to look at the owner of the voice and ends up staring at Greg Horan, Niall’s older brother. He watches as Niall’s smile drops and Harry frowns. He looks around to see if anyone notices but all of them seem oblivious. Harry shrugs it off thinking that he was only imagining it. 

 

“Greg! What are you doing here?” Niall asks and Harry could tell that something is off with Niall’s voice. He seems…Harry doesn’t know how to put it into words..well, maybe surprised? But as quick as the thought comes, it vanishes quickly when Greg pulls Niall into a warm embrace leaving the rest of the guys cooed on how cute they are. Harry smiles but his smile fades when he sees Niall is stiff under Greg’s embrace. Harry doesn’t know why, but suddenly his instinct is telling him that something is wrong. 

 

**

 

“So, why exactly are you here?” Niall asks as soon as he locks his door and walks towards his living room only to find Greg’s feet on his white coffee table. Not that Niall is a very neat person but he doesn’t like stains on his things, thank you very much. 

 

“Can I just come to visit my dear little brother?” Greg says and Niall snorts. Their relationship was never good since they were kid and Niall knows exactly why Greg comes to his house. Niall ignores Greg and starts to clean up the foods that his bandmates had left on the floor. They were planning to chill out at Niall’s house for the day but an uninvited guest had interrupted them and Niall feels a little annoyed. 

 

From the corner of his eyes, he sees Greg looks at one of the pictures of the band on the wall and the older guy huffs in disgust. “You and your little bandmates here are really acting like faggot, you know. All the touching. It’s disgusting to watch.” Greg mocks. 

 

Niall scoffs. “They’re my best friends. And if you don’t like it, don’t watch. Simple, right?” 

 

“Yeah. But then you guys are everywhere. I don’t get it why people like this gay band so much. It’s like they don’t mind that a bunch of gay teenagers are singing and being famous because of it.” Greg adds. 

 

“Well you don’t seem to mind when you want the money that I earn from this _gay_ band, do you?” Niall snaps back. Greg can talk what he wants about Niall, but he doesn’t get to talk about four of his other band mates who he is so thankful for because they are great guys and they make Niall feels loved. 

 

Greg stands up and yanks Niall, shoving him until Niall’s back hitting on the wall and Greg starts to choke his throat. Niall tries to pry off Greg’s hand but his brother is too strong for him. 

 

“Look, I’m the big brother and I can ask you for anything and you have to give it to me. Because if you don’t, I will tell dad about your secret and you don’t want dad to hate you, right?” Greg snarls and smirks smugly when Niall nods. “Remember that!” Greg adds before he lets go of Niall and heads out from the house. “I’ll be back later!” 

 

Niall slids on the floor shaking as soon as he heard the door slams and Greg is out from his house. He lets out a choke breathe and blink back his tears. Greg knows his secret. Greg had known couple of years before and always threatened Niall with it to get what he wants from Niall. And Greg takes the threat to the whole new level when One Direction started to get well-known and Niall couldn’t help but gives in everytime Greg asks for money. He doesn’t want anyone to know about his secret. His band mates will freak out and his dad will hate him. He doesn’t want any of that to happen. 

 

**

 

Harry watches as Niall enters the studio, looking chirpy as usual but one thing that makes Harry’s eyes go wide is the hideous scarf that Niall is wearing around his neck. It’s not even cold in London at that time and Harry couldn’t help but feels curious about Niall’s choice of clothes. Niall likes to wear simple clothes such as T-shirt and jeans, sometimes tank tops, as far as Harry knows. But Niall is unpredictable sometimes so Harry lets the unimportant thoughts slide and starts to focus on the recording. 

 

When it is Niall's turn in the booth, the blonde boy is still not peeling off the scarf from his neck and he looks uncomfortable with it. Harry is about to ask Niall when suddenly Louis’s voice pipes in. “Loose the scarf, Nialler. What, you have a love bite to hide?” Louis teases and all of them laugh. Well, except for Harry. He doesn’t think that is funny at all. In fact, he can feel something tugs inside his heart and he refuses to believe that it is jealousy. Because Niall is not his, but sometimes Harry wishes he is. Niall ignores Louis’s teasing and starts to record his part. Harry couldn’t help but stares at the blonde fondly. Niall has a nice voice and Harry loves to hear him sing. 

 

“Niall, your voice sounds different. Are you having sore throat?” Liam asks suddenly and breaks Harry out from his stupor. Harry frowns because now as he come to think of it, Niall seems fine but how come Niall is having a sore throat all of sudden? Harry makes a mental note to ask Niall later after they finish with their recording session for the day. 

 

**

 

Niall stares at his face on the mirror and sighs. He pulls the scarf off his neck and slowly tracing his finger at the red marks on his necks, contributed by Greg’s hand the day before. Niall hisses in pain when his finger touches the tender part of the red handprints on his neck. He was afraid that he had screwed up his part but luckily they cut his part short since he claimed to have a sore throat. 

 

“Nialler?” Niall’s head snaps up and he sees Harry on the reflection of the mirror and he quickly pulls his scarf back on to hide the bruises. He curses himself for not noticing Harry sooner. 

 

“God, Hazza, you scared me.” Niall laughs nervously. He turns around only to find Harry stands in front of him with a frown. “Are you okay?” Niall can sense Harry’s worried tone and he feels guilty. He doesn’t want Harry to worry over him. So Niall nods and smiles as wide as he could muster. “I’m okay, Hazza. Just a sore throat, don’t worry.” Niall says confidently and in his heart, he prays that Harry believes him. And when Harry’s frown turns into a smile, Niall feels relief. He is not ready for anyone to know his secret. Especially Harry. 

 

**

 

“Why are you getting back so late? Are you trying to avoid me?” Greg’s voice boomed through Niall’s eardrum as soon as he steps into his house. 

 

“Well, unlike some people, I actually have a work to do.” Niall replies sarcastically. He is tired and hungry and sleepy and he really doesn’t want Greg to be nag at him in his _own_ house. So Niall does what he does best, he tunes out Greg and walks past him to get to his bedroom when suddenly Greg grabs his arm, making him stop. 

 

“What?” Niall asks, still annoyed. 

 

“I want money.” 

 

Niall snaps his head and turns to look at Greg. “ You want money? I gave you a lot of money yesterday!” Niall raises his voice slightly because he is mad. He fucking gave Greg two thousand pounds less than 24 hours before and now Greg wants more? 

 

“That was yesterday. I want some for today.” Greg replies back and tightened his grip on Niall’s arms. 

 

“I don’t have any cash.” Niall says and tries to wriggle off Greg’s grip but his answer seems to infuriate Greg as the older guy pushes him on the ground and pins him down. 

 

“What are you doing?! Let go off me!” Niall yells. 

 

“Give me some money!” Greg yells back and Niall shakes his head. “No way!” 

 

That makes Greg more furious and he punches Niall making the younger boy cries in pain. Shit! Niall curses himself for being tiny compared to Greg and that’s why he always ends up bruising from Greg’s wrath and can do nothing to fight back. 

 

Niall is still whimpering slightly over the pain on his cheek when he feels Greg’s hands on his pocket and he shakes his head. “Greg, no…” Niall tries to stop Greg but the older guy found what he wanted; Niall’s wallet. Greg pulls out all of the cash and throws the empty wallet on Niall’s face and stands up. He strides towards the front door and hollers happily. “Thanks for the money, faggot!” Niall takes a deep breath before he curls into a ball, crying silently and starts to wonder why can’t he get brothers like Zayn, Louis or Liam? 

 

** 

 

“Niall honey, you want me to conceal this?” The makeup artist says and Niall cowers slightly under the sudden attention from his other four bandmates. Louis, as curious as ever, walks towards Niall and stares at the blonde’s face. “What the hell happened to your face?” Louis asks and peers to see the bruise on Niall’s cheek and tries to touch it with his hand. Niall swats Louis’s hand away from his face and smiles. 

 

“Fell off in the toilet. Clumsy me.” Niall replies, giving his toothy grin and Louis shakes his head along with Liam and Zayn. Harry who had watched the exchanged from earlier could see that Niall is lying. He doesn’t know why the other haven’t noticed it but the bruise on Niall’s face doesn’t look like it caused by the fall. It looks like someone had punched him and Harry really wants to know who, why, where and when. Because the last two days they haven’t had a meeting with each other so nobody knows what everyone was up to. Harry lets his thought slide first as they are being rushed to meet the interviewer for their latest interview. 

 

From the corner of his eyes, Harry can see how uncomfortable Niall is during the interview. Niall usually like to cuddle but today he doesn’t even sits closely to Zayn or Liam like he always does. Niall also looks fidgety and throughout the whole interview, Harry notices that Niall doesn’t laugh as much as he does usually when Louis is cracking a joke. The blonde guy also recoils when someone touches him; even the slight arms glaze makes Niall flinches. Harry frowns again as he observes the blonde guy. What the hell is happening? 

 

**

 

“Guys, did you notice something wrong with Nialler?” Harry asks after few days of the incident during the interview as they are chilling out at his and Louis’s flat, killing some time off. 

 

“What do you mean?” Zayn asks as he gives his full attention to Harry since Louis and Liam are still engrossed with their video games.

 

“I’m not really sure, but he seems different lately..” Harry trails off and looks at Zayn. Zayn nods understandingly because he notices too. Niall didn’t cuddle like always during the interview and he even requested for an extra chair instead of sitting on the couch that fits all of them as usual. Come one, since when their band needs an extra chair? 

 

Sensing the seriousness of two of their best friends, Liam and Louis stop their games and turns to face Zayn and Harry. 

 

“I kind of notice the same things too.” Liam admits and follows by Louis’s nod. They all start to talk about Niall’s behavior lately until they reach the point during their last interview together. 

 

“And the bruise on his face that day, do you think that maybe he was fighting with someone?” Liam asks. 

 

“But who?” Zayn asks back. He really wants to know who in their right mind had punched Niall because he really wants to get back to whomever that was. They once said in the interview that they would go psycho if someone hurt Niall and they really mean that. But the problem is, they don’t know who the culprit is and Niall doesn’t seem that he wants to share the information too. 

 

“I don’t know but I’m worried about him.” Harry says. 

 

“We are all worried about him. But I think you’re more worried that the rest of us, right?” Louis teases. 

 

“What?” Harry shrieks. 

 

“We know you like him. You’re way too obvious.” Louis teases again. 

 

“Err…you guys…know?” Harry stammers. He looks at his bandmates with wide eyes and starts to panic. His bandmates would freak out and they would leave him alone and…wait, but they don’t even bulge at his half-confession of liking a guy. In fact, all three of them are laughing at his expense. 

 

“Well, you are practically undressing him with your eyes, Hazza. Of course we know.” Zayn says, earning a loud high-five from Louis. Harry blushes profusely and shakes his head.

 

“I thought you guys will be freak..” Harry trails off. 

 

“Nah! We’re cool mate. We need a gay member in this so called _gay_ band, right?” Louis says, referring to some haters who like to call them gay. So what if they are truly gay? Eventhough Louis knows that he, along with Liam and Zayn are truly straight as ruler. 

 

“Plus, it takes two to tango, Hazza.” Zayn adds and winks at Liam and Louis like they are having their own inside jokes. 

 

“What do you mean?” Harry asks, confused by the cryptic words that came out from Zayn. 

 

“You’ll see.” Zayn says and doesn’t continue to explain because he is Zayn, and he likes being mysterious. 

 

**

 

“Nialler! Come here.” Zayn calls and opens his arms as an invitation for Niall to cuddle to him and Niall hesitates. Not because he doesn’t like it but he still remember Greg’s words and what if..he is still in his thought when suddenly he feels himself being pulls into Zayn’s embrace and he takes a few seconds before he hugs Zayn back. He misses this. He misses being cuddly and seeking comfort in his bandmates when he is feeling down or homesick or sad. 

 

“Are you alright Nialler?” Zayn asks softly and Niall buries his face further into Zayn’s shoulder. “M’kay” Niall mumbles and Zayn hugs him tighter. “You know you can talk to me for anything right?” Niall nods again. “Thanks Zayn.” Niall is grateful that Zayn is not pushing him to talk more because he doesn’t think that he is ready to tell Zayn his brother is blackmailing him and he is afraid that his father would hate him if he knows that Niall is gay. And he definitely couldn’t tell Zayn that he likes a certain curly-haired bandmate as more than a friend. No, he is not ready for that yet. 

 

Harry, Louis and Liam reaches at Niall’s living room and smiles at the scene in front of them. It is no secret that Zayn is like Niall’s big brother. In fact, they all are except for Harry, because obviously he is younger than Niall and the fact that he is not thinking of Niall like a brother at all doesn’t help. 

 

Five of them start to chill out and joking around for couple of hours before Greg appears at the entrance of the living room and calling for Niall roughly. Harry notices as Niall is suddenly become stiff under Zayn’s cuddle and he quickly ducks out from Zayn’s arms. Zayn seems to notice it too and he frowns. He watches as Niall is quickly moving towards the guest room and couldn’t help but feels worried. He glances at Harry and when their eyes meet, Zayn knows that they are thinking about the same thing. 

 

**

 

As soon as he enters the guest room, Niall huffs in annoyance. “What do you want?” 

 

“I want you to follow me and my friends to the hottest club in London tonight.” Greg orders. 

 

“What? Why must I follow you? I have my own friends to hang out with.” Niall points out. 

 

“Look, don’t act stupid, fag! You and your _gay_ band are practically everywhere now, so I presume that if you want to enter any club in this town, there would be some special free treatments right?” Greg sneers and Niall feels his stomach drops at how Greg is using him because of his fame. 

 

“Sorry Greg, but I have other plan tonight.” Niall says before he turns around and heading towards the door. His hand is barely on the doorknob when suddenly he feels Greg pushes him from the back and his forehead bumps with the hard wood of the door, making Niall winces in pain. 

 

“Say it again one more time and you’ll regret what I’ll do. Dad’s just one phone call away, _fag._ ”

 

Niall blinks his eyes rapidly to hide his almost tears. “Fine. Let me tell them to go off first.” Niall says in defeat and walks out from the guest room. 

 

When he enters his living room, four pair of eyes is looking at him curiously and he gives them a shaky smile. “Guys..Greg’s sick so I have to take care of him..I guess I need to be alone with him today..sorry that I have to cancel our plan today..” Niall apologizes sincerely. 

 

“Nah, it’s okay, Ni.” Liam assures as they are all starts to stand up and heading for the door when suddenly Zayn spots something. “What’s wrong with your forehead?” Zayn asks as he walks towards Niall and Niall backs away. “Nothing. I bumped into the doors. You know me, always the clumsy one.” Zayn frowns in disbelief but he doesn’t push it. He glances at Harry and he knows Harry will coax the story from Niall so Zayn let it slides and gives Niall a smile and starts to follow Liam and Louis who had already gone. 

 

Harry watches as Zayn retreats to the outside of Niall’s flat and turns to face Niall. He takes a step forward until he stands barely inches from the blonde guy. He knows something is wrong. He just can’t ignore the pit in his stomach about how Niall is acting lately. 

 

“Nialler, are you really alright?” Harry asks as he stares right into Niall’s blue eyes. His voice is calm but deep inside he is really worried about Niall. He thinks he can figure out on what is this all about. Since Greg is in London, Niall has changed. And the bruise on Niall and fidgety looks that comes from Niall’s demeanor doesn’t seem right in Harry’s eyes. 

 

“I’m fine, Hazza.” Niall says as he stares at the beautiful green eyes in front of him. Those eyes are really beautiful. They stares at each other for a few moments and neither wants to break the eye contact, as in Harry is daring Niall to tell the truth and Niall is daring Harry to push with the question. 

 

“Niall!!!” Greg’s yelling seems to break Harry and Niall’s staring contest. “You should probably go now..” Niall trails off. 

 

Harry sighs softly and hugs Niall briefly before his hand lingers on Niall’s waist. “Call me if anything happens, okay?” Harry says.

 

Niall’s eyes widened and he suddenly feels panic runs through his heart because he is not sure If Harry knows about what Greg does to him or not. But Niall doesn’t get his answer when Harry turns around and walks out from his flat. 

 

**

 

Niall follows Greg and his friends to the most exclusive pub in London and being who he is, Niall can enter it easily. This seems to encourage Greg and his friends to use him for free shots of drink and exclusive treatment. Niall feels disgusting with himself to do the entire request because to him, he is not a celebrity. But Greg seems too fond with the idea of using his fame to get down all night at the pub and it is near midnight when Niall decides that he needs a break. 

 

Niall goes out from the pub and starts to text Harry, because he is bored and his brother seems too lost in his own world. Niall let out a small chuckle as Harry replies with something funny in his text. 

 

“Who are you texting with?” Greg asked, making Niall jumps slightly at the sudden voice from his left side. “Fuck!” Niall curses at his increasing heartbeat because of the shock. 

 

Niall ignores Greg’s question and just scrolling through his text when Greg huffs disgustingly besides him. “Nice, fag. Does Harry know your secret too like I do?” Greg taunts and Niall glares at his brother. Couldn’t he at least let Niall go off the hook for once? Niall remains silent and hoping that Greg would stop bothering him and go back into the pub. However, his hope is turned down because Greg is still besides him and the older guy starts to speak again. 

 

“Why are you not inside? We can’t get free drinks anymore!” Greg whines drunkenly.

 

Niall rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “What if you pay for once in a while?” Niall snaps.

 

That seems such a wrong words to say because Niall is suddenly afraid on how Greg’s face twist into an angry face and without any warning, Greg grabs Niall’s shirt and pushes him until Niall lands on the ground with a thud. 

 

Niall tries to stand up but Greg is bigger and faster and starts to kicks Niall on the stomach repeatedly. “Greg, stop! Stop! I’m sorry.” Niall begs. He tries to fight back but only ends up on the ground again. He curls protectively around his stomach when he feels Greg yanks his hair and punches him, and he knows that the thick liquid that comes out from his mouth and nose is blood. 

 

Niall is between the brinks of consciousness when he heard voices. He barely open his eyes when someone cradles his head and he looks up only to see the face of..“Harry..” and he falls into darkness. 

 

**

 

Harry sits nervously with his other bandmates at the hospital’s waiting room. His head is on Liam’s shoulder as Liam arm is wrapping him comfortingly. Zayn and Louis are sitting beside them and all Harry could see is how worried all of them are. 

 

Harry starts to recall back when he was texting Niall, the blond had asked him to come to the pub to accompany him and Harry was quickly agreed. He was ecstatic to spend time with Niall because they rarely get the chance to do that nowadays. 

 

Harry remembers on how he was walking towards the back alley to avoid all of the paparazzi in front of the pub when he heard a pained voice and he recognized it immediately. Niall. Harry ran towards the voice only to find that Greg is kicking on Niall who was curled on the ground and all Harry can see was red. He strode towards Greg and punched him, making the older guy staggered back and ran away from the scene once Harry was there. Part of Harry wanted to chase and beat Greg senseless but when he saw the figure on the ground, he couldn’t help but felt panicked. He kneeled down and put Niall carefully on his lap and fumbled through his cellphone to call the paramedics. When he finished, he looked down and brushed his hands softly around Niall’s bloody nose and lips worriedly. Niall looked at him and Harry felt his heart broke at the pains in those blue eyes that Harry loved so much. “Harry..” was all that Niall can manage to say before he went limp in Harry’s arms and for a moment Harry thought that his heart had stop beating. Thank God paramedics came early and before Harry knew it, he was already at the hospital. 

 

When the others came to the hospital prior to his call, Harry had recounted the whole story on how he had found Niall and when he finished, Liam enveloped him in a big hug, comforting him because Harry was on the verge of tears and when all of them are wrapped in group hug, Harry burst out crying. And after that, they were all seating at the room, waiting for any news from the doctor about Niall’s condition. 

 

** 

 

“He has mild concussion and fractured ribs. Nothing major though. However, the ribs might feel tender for couple of days and he is most likely to get headache from the concussion but other than that, he is stable.” That was what the doctor had explained to the guys before all of them took off to Niall’s hospital room. 

 

When they enter the room, they could see that Niall is still sleeping under medication and they decided to come back again for the next day, except Harry. Harry decided to stay with Niall and they left Harry with pats on his shoulder and told him to get some rest. 

 

Harry sits on the chair besides Niall’s bed and stares at the blonde. Niall looks so small and young on the white sheet and it makes Harry’s heart clenches on the thought of someone had hurt Niall. And that someone is none other than Niall’s own brother. Harry sighs softly before he takes Niall’s small hand in his and rubs the back of Niall’s hand softly. “Oh, Nialler..” Harry says softly as he stares at Niall lovingly before resting his head on the bed, without letting go of Niall’s hand. 

 

Harry is about to drift into sleep when he feels his hand twitched. He blinks his eyes and grins widely as he finally sees the beautiful blue eyes staring at him back. “Hi..” Niall’s voice cracks a little and Harry smiles. “Hi, Nialler.” Harry watches as Niall’s eyes wander around to see his surrounding and those blue eyes look a little bit confused. “What happened?” Harry raises his eyebrows at Niall’s question. “You don’t remember?” 

 

Niall blinks his eyes and looked at Harry confusingly. To be honest, his mind is little bit groggy and he presumes that it is from whatever painkillers that the doctor had given him. He knows he is in the hospital but he doesn’t exactly remember why. 

 

“Do you remember about Greg?” Harry asks and for a moment he wishes he could take it back when Niall’s eyes suddenly gone wide and he looks like he remembers everything after that. 

 

“Oh…” Niall says. He doesn’t know what else to say. He remembers now. He remembers how Greg beat him up because he didn’t want to do what Greg wanted and ends up in the hospital. Great. 

 

“You really had me worried, Nialler.” Harry states. 

 

Niall tilts his head to look at Harry properly before he speaks up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worried.” Niall never wants Harry to feel worry about him because Niall rather see Harry’s smile with his dimple and twinkle in his greenish eyes. 

 

“It’s okay. I’m just glad that you’re alright.” Harry assures. “Ni…does Greg always do this to you all this time?” Harry asks. 

 

Niall averts his eyes from Harry’s before he nods, confirming Harry’s suspicion. 

 

“Why didn’t you tell anyone? Or me?” Harry coax softly as Niall only shrugs and silent tear slips through his blue eyes, making Harry’s heart breaks. Harry lifts his thumb to Niall’s cheek and slowly wipes away the tear. He didn’t mean to make Niall cries. Slowly, he pulls Niall’s face towards him and leans closer to the blonde guy. Harry makes a move and kiss Niall on the lips softly, and Niall’s eyes gone wide. 

 

“What was that for?” Niall asks after Harry pulls away. 

 

“I’ve wanted to do that for quite some time but I’m always too afraid to do it. But tonight, when I saw you…I..I was scared that I missed the chance.” Harry explains. “I like you, Niall. I like you more than a friend. And I like you a lot, more than you know.” 

 

Niall can feel the warmth on his cheeks as he tries to get his head around the fact that Harry had admitted that he likes him. Harry likes him. Like _like_. “Harry..I…” Niall tries to talk but his mind is too tired and his eyes are already drooping. Harry seems to understand and put his finger on Niall’s lips, hushing the blonde guy. “Don’t worry. We’ll talk about it later, yeah. Just take a rest.” Harry soothes and within seconds, Niall is asleep with Harry’s hand tangled with his own. 

 

** 

 

Niall opens his eyes as he heard voices around him. “He’s waking up.” Niall heard one of the voices. Surprisingly, it doesn’t belong to one of his bandmates. He opens his eyes slowly towards the voice and gasps in surprise. “Dad?” 

 

Niall shifts slightly as his dad starts to hug him and he clings on his dad’s shirt, looking for a comfort. “Hi, Nialler. Mum says sorry she couldn’t come right away, her flight was delayed.” Bobby explains and Niall nods. 

 

“Miss you.” Niall mumbles through his dad’s shirt and Bobby tighten his arms around his son. “Miss you too, Nialler.” 

 

Bobby pulls away from the hug but his hands are still lingered on Niall’s shoulder as he stares at his son. “Harry told me everything. Why didn’t you tell me about Greg? What makes he acted like that?” 

 

Niall swallows nervously as he breaks the eye contact with his father. He doesn’t know how to react to that question. If he tells the truth, would his father hate him? His eyes wander around the room as he notices all of his bandmates are standing on the corner, giving some privacy for Niall and Bobby. He looks at Harry as curly-haired guy smiles encouragingly at him. Niall takes a deep breath before he starts to speak again. 

 

“I…” Niall starts to tell everything about what Greg had done to him. He also tells about how Greg had blackmailed him and the reason on why Greg was blackmailing him. He doesn’t realize when he started to cry but when he finishes, he refuses to look at anyone in the room. He knows his dad is disappointed at him and his bandmates would hate him and freak out. 

 

“Nialler, look at me.” Bobby calls as he puts his hand on Niall’s chin and turns his son’s face towards him. Niall’s lips wobbles and tears are still streaming down his face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for letting you down. I’m sorry for being gay.” Niall apologizes miserably. 

 

Bobby pulls his miserable son into his hug and rubs his back comfortingly. “Hey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry about. You’re still my son, and I love you. You still love to eat, you love football, you still curse like a sailor, and you love laughing. You’re still my Nialler, my son that I love. Your sexuality doesn’t change that.”

 

When they pull away, Niall looks up to see his dad’s face. “Really? You’re not disappointed at me?” 

 

Bobby shakes his head and throws a soft smile at his son. “Not at all. A bit shock, yes. But it doesn’t matter like I said before. I’m sorry if I was ignorant about this. If only I knew what Greg was up to, I’ll not let this escalate until this point.” 

 

Niall turns around to look at the other guys to see their reaction. Much to his surprise, Louis, Liam and Zayn don’t look freak out by his confession about his sexuality. “Guys..” 

 

“It’s okay, Nialler. We’re cool with that.” They say and apologize for being bad friends for not noticing it sooner but Niall says that he doesn’t mind. He thanks them for accepting him and Liam goes to ruffles his hair along with Louis and Zayn. “You are always going to be our little leprechaun.” 

 

**

 

It takes about an hour later before Louis, Liam and Zayn decide to go home and promise that they will come back to visit again later. Harry remains with his decision to stay and Niall has the urge to hide under his blanket when Louis cooed on how sweet Harry is, never want to leave Niall alone. And when Harry blushes, Niall finds it adorable. Thank God that Liam and Zayn managed to drag Louis’s out before the eldest band member could tease both Harry and Niall endlessly. 

 

“Hurm, so I guess this is the part where I have to excuse myself as well to leave you two alone, right?” Bobby says and Niall couldn’t help but groans inwardly. Couldn’t his dad at least be more subtle about that? 

 

“Dadddd…” Niall whines before his dad could embarrass him any further and Bobby laughs out loud. He knows by the look of it, the two boys in front of him are obviously like each other more than a friend should. He could recognize the twinkles in both their eyes when they look at each other and Bobby couldn’t help but shakes his head. Young love, he thought. He starts to walk towards the door and before he walks out, he turns to tease the boys for one more time. “Keep your hands off each other!” 

 

“Daaaaadddddd!!!” Niall whines loudly and Bobby’s laugh could be heard through the hallway when he finally leaves the room, leaving Harry and Niall alone. 

 

Harry chuckles at Bobby’s antic and turns too face Niall after Bobby left. They stare at each other in silence cause neither knows what to say before Niall starts to speak. “So, about last night..” Niall trails off. He doesn’t know how to put it into words. 

 

“What about it? You don’t like it?” Harry asks. A little bit too eager and partly scared because he kissed Niall last night out of impulse and he never knew if Niall likes him the same way or not. 

 

Niall shakes his head. “I like it. I’m just.. I don’t know. I never thought that you like me too..I..” Niall is so tongue-tied he couldn’t think of anything to speak about it  
. 

Harry feels his heart burst in happiness when Niall said that he likes Harry too. Harry leans in closer to Niall’s face and their lips are barely inches from each other. “Action is louder than words Nialler. Maybe we should just continue on our kissing session last night..” Harry says, his breath mingles with Niall’s. Niall grins widely as he replies. “Yes, we should.” And when Harry’s lips are finally connects with Niall’s, sparks fly. They ends up cuddling on the bed together with Harry’s arm wraps protectively around Niall and the blonde lay his head on Harry’s chest. “So, should we confirm to our fans that Narry is indeed real?” Harry says after few moments of silence. Harry smiles as he watches Niall laughs out loud at his own joke instead of Louis’s and Harry definitely likes that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I'm still improving on my writing, really. :)


End file.
